Jozef Schils

Jozef "Jef" Schils (4 September 1931, in Kersbeek-Miskom – 3 March 2007, in Liège) was a Belgian cyclist.

In 1952, at the age of 21, Jozef Schils, who had just become a professional racing cyclist and was still in the army, became Belgian road racing champion. He was nominated for the road world championships in Luxembourg in the same year and finished tenth.

Schils rode as a professional until 1965 and won around 40 Belgian criteria during this time. 1953 was his most successful year, in which he won Paris-Tours and the Nationale Sluitingsprijs. In 1955 he won at Nokere Koerse. His nickname was "little Coppi", because Fausto Coppi had praised him. However, he turned down offers to go to Italy. In 1957, he won the Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten in Ichtegem on a postman's bike. In 1960, he switched to the French team "Mercier", which was led by Antonin Magne and in which Raymond Poulidor rode. At the end of the season he had a hard crash and he crashed again heavily in 1961. In 1965, he ended his career.

Then Jozef Schils opened a café in Koekelberg, later a laundry and a bicycle shop. Jozef Schils was the father of the former professional racing cyclist Patrick Schils and was the grandfather of Dominic Schils, also a racing cyclist of note.

Major results Source:

1951 4th Coppa Bernocchi 1952

1st Stage 3a Tour de Romandie 1953

1st Paris–Tours 1st Nationale Sluitingsprijs 1st Grote Prijs Beeckman-De Caluwé 1st Vilvoorde–Houtem 1st Grand Prix of Walloon Brabant 1st Grand Prix of Haspengouw 1954 1st Tour of Hesbaye 1st De Drie Zustersteden 1st Brussels–Bost 1st Brussels–Couvin 1st Grand Prix of Brabant Wallon 1st Trophée des Trois Pays 1st Ronde van Haspengouw 3rd Grote Prijs Beeckman-De Caluwé 4th Paris–Brussels 4th Omloop van Limburg 4th Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten 1955 1st Nokere Koerse 1st GP Stad Vilvoorde 1st Grote Prijs Berlare 1st Hoeilaart-Diest-Hoeilaart 1st GP Benego 5th Flèche Halloise 8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 8th Paris–Tours 1956 1st Brussels–Ingooigem 1st Schelde–Dender–Leie 1st Schaal Sels 1st Sint-Lievens-Esse 2nd Overall Tour de l'Ouest 3rd Heistse Pijl 1957 1st GP Benego 1st Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten 1st Flèche Halloise 1st Brussels–Bost 2nd Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde 2nd Brussels–Ingooigem 2nd Grote Prijs Berlare 3rd Coppa Bernocchi 3rd Etoile du Leon 4th Overall Tour of Belgium 5th Tour de Wallonie 8th Omloop Het Volk 9th Gent–Wevelgem 1958 1st Trofee Luc Van Biesen 1st Vilvoorde–Houtem 1st Stage 5 Tour of the Netherlands 1st Stage 3 (TTT) Tour du Levant 1st Stage 3 Driedaagse van Antwerpen 1st Antwerp–Genk 1st Stage 3 (TTT) & 8 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2nd GP Flandria 2nd Milano–Mantova 2nd Nationale Sluitingsprijs 2nd De Drie Zustersteden 3rd Heistse Pijl 3rd Overall GP Marvan 1st Stage 1 4th Overall Tour of Lombardy 5th Scheldeprijs 5th Brussels–Ingooigem 6th Belgian Road Champion Road race 1959 1st Circuit des 3 Provinces 1st Stages 1b and 5 Tour du Levant 1st Stage 2 & 6 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 5th Tour de Wallonie 6th Overall Tour of Belgium 8th Paris–Brussels 1960 1st Grand Prix of Isbergues 1st Stage 4 Tour du Nord 1st Dokter Tistaertprijs Zottegem 1st GP de la Basse-Sambre 1st GP Brabant Wallon 1st Flèche Hesbignonne-Cras Avernas 1st Stages 2 and 4b Tour of Belgium 1st Circuit of Basse-Sambre 2nd Heistse Pijl 2nd Schaal Sels 2nd Schelde–Dender–Leie 2nd Paris–Valenciennes 3rd GP Flandria 5th Brussels–Ingooigem 8th Tour de Wallonie 1961 1st Hoegaarden–Antwerp–Hoegaarden 1st Sint-Lievens-Esse 1962 1st Flèche Hesbignonne-Cras Avernas 1st Dokter Tistaertprijs Zottegem 3rd Druivenkoers Overijse 3rd Schelde–Dender–Leie 3rd Trofee Luc Van Biesen 4th Omloop van de Vlasstreek 5th Dwars door West-Vlaanderen 8th Tour de Wallonie 10th La Flèche Wallonne 1963 1st Trofee Luc Van Biesen 4th Schelde–Dender–Leie 5th Scheldeprijs 5th Brussels–Ingooigem 5th GP Stad Vilvoorde 1964 2nd Grand Prix Pino Cerami 2nd Omloop van het Houtland 4th De Kustpijl